Amid the rise in Covid cases in China, experts from Pune said that the chances of reporting a surge in cases in India is not very likely.
China reported 2,000 new symptomatic Covid infections on December 14. Beijing began dismantling its tough ‘zero-Covid’ controls on December 7, dropping testing requirements and easing quarantine rules that had caused mental anxiety for tens of millions and damaged the economy.
The pivot away from President Xi Jinping’s signature “zero-Covid” policy followed unprecedented widespread protests against it. But, World Health Organization (WHO) emergencies director Mike Ryan said Covid infections were exploding in China well before the government decided to phase out its stringent regime.
Speaking about the possibility of a surge in India, Dr Raman Gangakhedkar, who retired as head of epidemiology at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that we have good herd immunity.
“The chances of cases rising are low as India has good herd immunity. However, the threat will remain to the broad population as the virus is likely to mutate as it spreads in China. As the virus spreads to more people in China, it is likely to mutate further. And therefore, we must keep a vigil with respect to rising cases, hospitalisation and mutations of the virus,” said Dr Gangakedkar.
He added that as the virus mutates it may have the potential to infect those who have been previously infected with the Omicron strain.
{{/usCountry}}He added that as the virus mutates it may have the potential to infect those who have been previously infected with the Omicron strain.
{{/usCountry}}“And therefore keeping a vigil is important. Although the risk is not very high, we should keep a vigil on the numbers,” said Dr Gangakedkar.
On Sunday, Maharashtra reported 11 new Covid cases and no death was reported due to the infection. The case fatality rate (CFR) in the state is 1.82%.